part two
Spam filters are still my enemy apparently! Last week’s newsletter is posted on my site, but I’m going to try an email without links to see if that helps.
Town Meeting intermission
On Saturday, we had a good turnout at Town Hall for Town Meeting (part 1). Many thanks to WCTV for recording, the Cub Scouts of America for running the microphones, and Change the World Kids for childcare.
We will resume voting tomorrow, March 3rd from 7am-7pm via ballots. Sample ballots are on the town website and linked in my ballot guide.
Schools are part of the solution
Tomorrow, MVSU district voters will be asked to vote on a bond to rebuild the middle school and high school that has two contingencies: 1. the decoupling of school construction debt from per pupil spending and 2. that at least 25% of the cost of the bond is raised via state construction aid, grants, or private donations. Here are the reasons I am supporting this bond that I hope you will consider:
We are already paying for the new school
In 2023, voters approved a bond of $1.65M for design and permitting of the new school. Tomorrow, we will vote on two additional bonds for repairs to address immediate issues in the building. The maintenance team estimates we have spent $2M in the past two years on repairs and we have tens more in the next few years to address if we don’t have a new facility. Pouring millions into repairs when the facility is beyond it’s expiration leaves us with the same problem: we need to replace the building, and construction costs are increasing at historical rate.
We are ineligble for state aid for a renovation
Our building is in such poor condition that it does not meet state criteria for aid if we were to renovate. Said another way, the state considers renovating our building a poor investment.
Education costs are a symptom; not the cause
A lot of the rhetoric around the past few Town Meeting Days is that we as Vermonters can’t afford the rising costs of operating our public schools. The conversation quickly turns to “what can we cut?” But the real issue isn’t simply our spending — it’s our stagnant tax base.
Vermont has an aging population, slow population growth, and a limited workforce, which means the cost of public services (bloating more each year due to health insurance costs and recently, tariffs) falls on fewer taxpayers. As it stands, more than half of Vermont’s residents pay their property tax bills at a subsidized rate due to income.
If we want lower pressure on property taxes, the solution isn’t defunding our public services, it’s growing the tax base — attracting families, supporting businesses, expanding housing, and strengthening the workforce. Safe and successful schools are part of that strategy, not an obstacle to it.
Please let me know if you have any questions about voting.
